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Forms of Government: Fascism

A topic guide with resources on the major forms of government and political thought.

Fascism

Fascism is defined as "a political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition" or "a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial control" (Merriam-Webster).   Examples of this type of government can be seen at various times in history, including in Germany under Hitler's rule and Italy under Mussolini. 

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Perspectives

Fascism: a Warning

#1 New York Times Bestseller Best Books of 2018 --The Economist A personal and urgent examination of Fascism in the twentieth century and how its legacy shapes today's world, written by one of America's most admired public servants, the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state A Fascist, observes Madeleine Albright, "is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is utterly unconcerned with the rights of others, and is willing to use violence and whatever other means are necessary to achieve the goals he or she might have."  The twentieth century was defined by the clash between democracy and Fascism, a struggle that created uncertainty about the survival of human freedom and left millions dead. Given the horrors of that experience, one might expect the world to reject the spiritual successors to Hitler and Mussolini should they arise in our era. In Fascism: A Warning, Madeleine Albright draws on her experiences as a child in war-torn Europe and her distinguished career as a diplomat to question that assumption. Fascism, as she shows, not only endured through the twentieth century but now presents a more virulent threat to peace and justice than at any time since the end of World War II.  The momentum toward democracy that swept the world when the Berlin Wall fell has gone into reverse.  The United States, which historically championed the free world, is led by a president who exacerbates division and heaps scorn on democratic institutions.  In many countries, economic, technological, and cultural factors are weakening the political center and empowering the extremes of right and left.  Contemporary leaders such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are employing many of the tactics used by Fascists in the 1920s and 30s. Fascism: A Warning is a book for our times that is relevant to all times.  Written  by someone who has not only studied history but helped to shape it, this call to arms teaches us the lessons we must understand and the questions we must answer if we are to save ourselves from repeating the tragic errors of the past.

Fascism: a Very Short Introduction

What is fascism? Is it revolutionary? Or is it reactionary? This book argues that it is both: fascism unleashes violence against the left and ethnic minorities, but also condemns the bourgeoisie for its 'softness'.Kevin Passmore opens his book with a series of 'scenes from fascist life' - a secret meeting of the Romanian Iron Guard; Mussolini meeting the king of Italy; a rally of Hungarian doctors calling for restrictions on the number of Jews entering the profession; the shooting of 1800 Jews by ReservePolice Battalion 101 at Jozefow in Poland in July 1942. He then looks at the paradoxes of fascism through its origins in the political and social crisis of the late nineteenth century, the history of fascist movements and regimes in Italy and Germany, and the fortunes of 'failed' fascist movementsin Romania, Hungary and Spain. He shows how fascism used and uses propaganda and popular culture to propagate itself and how it exported its ideas outside Europe, through Nazi and Spanish post-war escape routes to Latin America, for instance. The book concludes with a discussion of the recentrevival of the extreme right in Austria, Italy, France, and Russia.

Dictatorship, Fascism, and Totalitarianism

Gaining momentum in the early decades of the 20th century, a number of fascist and other authoritarian regimes could be found around the world by the 1950s. Many persist into the present day. Often led by oppressive dictators, these regimes share many cha

Marxism, Fascism, and Totalitarianism

This work traces the changes in classical Marxism (the Marxism of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels) that took place after the death of its founders. It outlines the variants that appeared around the turn of the twentieth century--one of which was to be of influence among the followers of Adolf Hitler, another of which was to shape the ideology of Benito Mussolini, and still another of which provided the doctrinal rationale for V. I. Lenin's Bolshevism and Joseph Stalin's communism. This account differs from many others by rejecting a traditional left/right distinction--a distinction that makes it difficult to understand how totalitarian political institutions could arise out of presumably diametrically opposed political ideologies. Marxism, Fascism, and Totalitarianism thus helps to explain the common features of "left-wing" and "right-wing" regimes in the twentieth century.

Fascism: A History

"The epic battle between communism and liberal democracy ended with breathtaking ease, and the first few euphoric years of democracy's triumph seemed to hold out the promise of a world at last entering a political consensus around the rights and values of an individualistic society. But the closing years of the twentieth century have proved the resilience and extent of the century's third great political force: fascism. The success of fascist parties in European elections, the appearance of fascist-inspired groups in the United States, and the recurrence of fascistlike political behavior in the numerous nationalist-inspired wars now consuming the former communistic bloc have provoked a reevaluation of the political movement once thought utterly defeated and discredited." "In fact, fascism has never received the serious attention and sustained scrutiny that has been trained on both communism and liberalism. Only a detailed, objective, and dispassionate approach to the question of what fascism is, and how and why it has been both a success in some countries and a failure in others, will begin to provide useful and constructive answers."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved